Mary+Ann+Page+(1940)


 * SUMMARY: Mary Ann Page, age 20, died on March 27, 1904 after an abortion perpetrated in Alton, Illinois by Dr. C. E. Trovillion. **

On March 27, 1940, 20-year-old homemaker Mary Ann Maria Page of Alton, Illinois, died from a botched criminal abortion. The Coroner's jury identified the perpetrator as 69-year-old Dr. C.E. Trovillion, also of Alton, former managing officer of Illinois state hospitals.

Mary Ann was the daughter of William and Oma (Hall) Chamberlain and the wife of Arthur Page. She left behind a 13-month-old son.

Mary Ann's abortion was typical of pre-legalization abortions in that it was [|performed by a doctor].

During the 1940s, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality from abortion. The death toll fell from 1,407 in 1940, to 744 in 1945, to 263 in 1950. Most researches attribute this plunge to the development of blood transfusion techniques and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more [|here].

For more on pre-legalization abortion, see [|The Bad Old Days of Abortion]

 Sources:
 * “Former Hospital Chief Accused of Abortion”, //The Oklahoman//, Apr. 1, 1940
 * "Accused of Illegal Operation in Death," //The Springfield (MA) Republican//, Apr. 1, 1940

Articles available at Newspapers.com.

include component="tagCloud"